Glenn joins world in tribute to the Wright brothers

Published: December 16, 2003 7:00PM

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. (AP) A century ago, two brothers with little more than a rudimentary understanding of aerodynamics and a delicate contraption fashioned in their bicycle shop made the first powered, heavier-than-air flight.

The 100th anniversary of that event Wednesday is the climax of a six-day festival at Wright Brothers National Memorial, where a team of mechanics, pilots and engineers hoped to re-enact Wilbur and Orville Wrights seminal accomplishment.

President Bush was to be on hand for the attempt, timed to come 100 years to the minute after the brothers from Dayton, Ohio, made their first 120-foot, 12-second flight.

Weather permitting, Kevin Kochersberger, an engineering professor from Rochester, N.Y., was to fly a meticulous reproduction of the 1903 Wright flyer that was built by The Wright Experience of Warrenton, Va.

On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville was at the controls for that first hop that lasted all of 12 seconds. He and Wilbur alternated for four flights that day; the last, by Wilbur, lasted 59 seconds and ran for 852 feet.

In the century since, travel by airplane has gone from a barnstormers novelty act to such a routine that it brings more complaints than ruminations on the extraordinary fact that it simply can be done.